Supernova

Luxurious Art Deco Pendant/Brooch With Star Sapphire, ca. 1940


€ 38,890.00 *
Content 1 piece
Incl. VAT, Shipping
Luxurious Art Deco Pendant/Brooch With Star Sapphire, ca. 1940
Luxurious Art Deco Pendant/Brooch With Star Sapphire, ca. 1940
Description
This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!
The jewel here lets us see infinity. A curtain is pulled aside and a supernatural apparition is revealed. Like a supernova, a glistening star, the design explodes in light, sky blue and starry white. Occupying the center of the piece is a star sapphire in bright blue. Like the sky on a summer day, with light clouds here and there, the large, untreated and unheated stone shimmers before our eyes. A star shines in its center and wanders across the surface of the tall cabochon. Around the sapphire are bands of diamonds and platinum. To the left, they enclose the stone like several layers of puffed cloth. Like cloth pulled aside, the gemstone is presented here. From below, the diamonds seem to lift the sapphire like a shooting star. And finally, to the right, individual diamonds are arranged on delicate platinum bars in such a way that it seems like a view of the Milky Way. The design, full of verve and dynamism, is realized with the greatest finesse in craftsmanship. At the same time, the setting is precious: in addition to the untreated sapphire, 14.72 carats of diamonds have been worked into this piece, including a three-quarter carat and over 170 other diamonds, most of them in the old European cut. The jewel can be worn as a brooch and as a pendant. Its shape, its workmanship and the details of the cuts of the diamonds show that it was created in the years around 1940. Art Deco was in full bloom at the time and sculpted designs with details reminiscent of lengths of fabric, known as "drapery jewellery", were a particular fashion. An independent certificate has confirmed the quality of the materials. It is enclosed with the piece of jewellery, as is the wide platinum necklace shown, which was probably created at the same time.
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In ancient times, diamonds were valued primarily for their incomparable hardness. As symbols of invincible strength, their beauty was secondary at best. In fact, early diamonds do not appear at all attractive to the modern eye. Medieval cutting techniques also did not allow for spectacular light reflections, and the widespread table cuts only brought out the brightness and color of the stones. All this changed in the course of the 17th century. The nobility of the Baroque period developed a taste for glittering gemstones. Rose cut diamonds, whose many facets reflected candlelight beautifully, were particularly popular. In the middle of the century, a first, early brilliant cut developed, called the Mazarin cut after the influential Cardinal Jules Mazarin, characterized by a crown of 17 facets. By the end of the century, these diamonds were then replaced by a new shape, named the Peruzzi cut after its inventor. Vincenzo Peruzzi was a gem cutter from Venice, who increased the crown of the diamonds by additional facets to a total of 33, thus increasing the fire of the stones enormously. However, these early brilliant diamonds were not standardized in terms of the number and shape of the facets. Each stone was cut in such a way that as much substance as possible could be preserved. New diamond deposits in Brazil in the second half of the 18th century then led to a cut shape that became known as the old mine cut. These diamonds are already very similar to today's full cut diamonds, but it would take several more generations of continuous development of the cutting technique before the old mine cut became the old European cut, and finally, in the 1940s, the modern full cut.
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Size & Details
Luxurious Art Deco Pendant/Brooch With Star Sapphire, ca. 1940
Supernova
€ 38,890.00 *
Content 1 piece
Incl. VAT, Shipping
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Our Promise
Our Promise

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You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

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